Khaleda critically ill, says Fakhrul

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir today demanded the government immediately allow their Party Chief Khaleda Zia to go abroad for advanced treatment on humanitarian ground as she is critically ill.

"Khaleda Zia is so ill, I cannot understand you [government]. For the first time she sat in a chair from the bed at CCU [of Evercare Hospital] yesterday [Monday]. She's very weak," he said.

Speaking at a doa mahfil, he also said doctors advised sending her abroad as there is no advanced centre in Bangladesh for treating Khaleda's multiple critical diseases.

"We demand the government immediately allow her to receive treatment abroad. You [govt] please do it on humanitarian ground in line with her family's application," the BNP leader said.  

Stating that Khaleda is a leader of democracy, he warned that the government will have to shoulder all the responsibilities if anything bad happens to her for barring her from going abroad for treatment.

BNP arranged a doa-mahfil on the ground floor of its Nayapaltan central office praying for the speedy recovery of Khaleda.

Referring to a fresh application to the government by Khaleda's family seeking permission to send her abroad for treatment, Fakhrul said, "We've been repeatedly talking about the issue, but she's not given that scope."

He alleged that the BNP chairperson was sent to jail by convicting her in "false" cases as part of a plot to remove her from politics. "There's now a plot to eliminate her life."

"We pray to the Almighty Allah so that she recovers soon not only for BNP and her family but also for the country and its 16 crore democracy-loving people. She is the leader who struggled for democracy most of her life," the BNP leader said.

On behalf of the family, Khaleda's younger brother, Shamim Iskander, submitted an application to the Home Ministry on Thursday urging the government to allow her to go abroad for better treatment.

Khaleda, a 76-year-old former prime minister, was readmitted to Evercare Hospital on Saturday six days after she had returned home from the hospital.

The BNP chief's physicians said she has been suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, ophthalmological and dental complications.

A physician at her medical team said Khaleda is now suffering from a critical cardiac problem while her blood sugar is out of control and hemoglobin level in her blood has dropped.